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“She went outside for a moment, she needed to cool down. I have no idea.” Addy’s voice wavers as she speaks.
My body screams in pain with each movement. Everything in me wants to jump from Dekker, but right now, I don’t have the strength.
“Open the passenger side,” Dekker commands.
I grip my broken phone in my hand as he gently tries to set me down in the passenger seat. He slowly extends the seatbelt and buckles me in.
“Where are you taking her? She needs a hospital,” Addy demands.
“We will take care of her.” Dekker slams the door shut, and I barely can make out what they’re arguing about.
The driver’s side door opens, and the car shakes a bit from him getting inside. I let out a groan as my body moves with the car, sending pain through me.
“We’ve got you, Angel.”
I want to yell at him that I’m not his angel, but I just don’t even care at this point.
The drive is relatively short, or at least it feels that way. When we reach their house, Dekker carefully lifts me from the car and brings me inside.
As slow as he can, he carries me up the stairs to his room. My body stiffens under him, and he picks up on it immediately.
“Relax.” It’s the only word he gives me.
When we get to his room, he slowly and softly lays me down in his bed. The minute my body hits the mattress and my head hits the pillows, I can feel my body relax.
Dekker disappears into his bathroom for a few minutes before coming out again, walking over to a small refrigerator he has next to his desk. He opens it and reaches inside, pulling out a bottle of water. He opens it as he walks over, holding out his other hand for me to take something. I side-eye him, wary of what he is giving me.
As if he can sense my apprehension, he chuckles. “It’s just some ibuprofen. It will help with the pain.”
Nodding, I hold out my hand and take the medication. I place the two pills in my mouth as he holds the water to my lips. Dekker takes his time pouring the water into my mouth, and when there’s enough, he pulls back to allow me to swallow.
He spends the next hour attempting to clean and bandage any of the areas that are scrapped up. He takes notes of any areas that are starting to bruise, but he never raises my shirt past my stomach.
When he finally gets done cleaning me up, he removes my shoes and places a blanket over me. He doesn’t say much, just looks at me. His black eyes pierce through me, but it’s nothing malicious. A genuine concern flashes in his eyes.
“Get some sleep,” is all he says before he turns off the lights and leaves the door slightly cracked.
My body is sore and tired, and it doesn’t take long for my eyes to feel heavy, the toll of today finally wearing on me.
And with a slow, steady breath, I let the sleep I need take me.
Chapter Twenty-One
DEKKER
Guilt eats at me.I’ve let her down so many times without her even knowing. A picture of me would be found under the labelassholewith how I’ve treated her.
I run a hand down my face. Right now, I sit at my desk watching her sleep, and I feel like fucking shit about what happened to her. It shouldn’t have.
Was I at Black Dragon? Yeah, I was. Watching over her as Xay and Seven were looking into Xay’s dad’s clients. I had to take a fucking piss, thinking she would be fine on the dance floor with Addy.
I was gone for a few minutes, seven max. And when I came out and she was gone, my heart dropped.
And that’s all it took for her to get jumped.
I rushed over to Addy, asking her where Rory went. When she told me she went outside, I immediately ran right out of the bar, with her roommate in tow.
When I saw her on the ground, all beat up, I saw red. I wanted to murder whoever laid a single finger on her. But I needed to focus on her.